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Outcome of Thai Corruption Case
Will Not Deter Shinawatra's Bid

By

Nick Cumming-Bruce Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 11, 2000 12:01 a.m. ET

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thai telecommunications magnate Thaksin Shinawatra, facing a legal challenge that could extinguish his bid to become Thailand's next prime minister, said he will remain an active force in politics whatever the outcome of his case.

Mr. Thaksin spent two hours on Friday giving evidence to Thailand's National Counter Corruption Commission, which is considering whether or not to indict him for making a false declaration of assets when serving as a government minister in 1997. The commission expects to decide whether it will prosecute Mr. Thaksin by the end of this month, but it said that if it decides to go ahead, the case won't be heard in the Constitutional Court until after elections that are set for Jan. 6.

Opinion polls put Mr. Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party well ahead of the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai for the bid to lead Thailand's next government. However, if the commission decides to prosecute his case in the Constitutional Court and wins, Mr. Thaksin could be barred from holding political office for five years.

After presenting his case to the commission, Mr. Thaksin told a news conference that if it decides to indict him he will continue to lead his party's campaign for parliamentary elections in January, arguing he may still be acquitted in court. "I am confident I will be declared innocent, so I don't have to temporarily suspend myself from politics," he said.

But even if the court upholds the indictment and he can't take up the premiership, he will continue to lead the Thai Rak Thai Party, he said, signaling his intention to remain a political force outside the government Thai Rak Thai hopes to form if it wins the election.

Mr. Thaksin laid out the evidence he gave earlier that day to the commission, insisting that the failure to include all his and his wife's assets in the financial statement required from ministers was the result of an error by his wife's secretary and not a result of corruption or any intent to mislead.

Thai media have raised questions about shares in companies of Mr. Thaksin or his wife that are worth hundreds of millions of baht and are nominally held by members of his household staff. Mr. Thaksin told the commission on Friday that his statement of assets had omitted shares valued at 647.5 million baht ($14.9 million), or 2.5% of the total he had declared. Of this amount, 616.6 million baht were shares in companies run by his wife but held by nominees for legitimate business purposes, he said.

The key issue for the commission in determining whether or not Mr. Thaksin committed an offense is intent, said his legal adviser, Pornthep Thepkanchana. After declaring more than 20 billion baht of assets, Mr. Thaksin didn't have an advantage to gain from leaving out the shares missing from his asset statement, he said. Thai Rak Thai Party leaders attending the press conference said the party has had no discussion yet on what it will do if Mr. Thaksin eventually loses his case and is banned from office, but they said that as a party with a million members it has institutional mechanisms and procedures for ensuring there will be no vacuum of leadership.

Outcome of Thai Corruption Case
Will Not Deter Shinawatra's Bid

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thai telecommunications magnate Thaksin Shinawatra, facing a legal challenge that could extinguish his bid to become Thailand's next prime minister, said he will remain an active force in politics whatever the outcome of his case.